Argonne researchers have found a new way to produce solar fuels by developing “synthetic purple membranes.” These membranes involve an assembly of lipid nanodiscs, man-made proteins, and semiconducting nanoparticles that, when taken together, can transform sunlight into hydrogen fuel.

Inspired by human forgetfulness — how our brains discard unnecessary data to make room for new information — scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and three universities, conducted a recent study that combined supercomputer simulation and X-ray characterization of a material that gradually “forgets.” This could one day be used for advanced bio-inspired computing.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has named Seth Darling as Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at Argonne (IME at Argonne), effective immediately. IME at Argonne is the Argonne-based partner to the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.

A method that significantly cuts the time and cost needed to grow graphene has won a 2017 TechConnect National Innovation Award. This is the second year in a row that a team at Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials has received this award.